Sunday, 9 September 2012

Good Cop

The character of Sav is first introduced to the audience at the beginning of the episode when he is walking down the dimly lit street. The surroundings are dark in the establishing shot and there is a faint orange glow from street lights which hints at a light/dark contrast within the character. It is also raining which adds to the dark, miserable atmosphere of the scene and gives the impression that Sav could be quite a negative person. He is then seen in his room with blood on his hands and a gun on his bed which makes it look like he has committed a crime and possibly shot someone. We begin to question his mental state as he rushes around frantically trying to clean everything up. He also has ripped wallpaper that could have been placed there to represent the way the character behaves and feels. When he meets Cassie and Libby on the beach we see a different side to him, like the contrast in the street lighting suggests. We can see he has had some previous history with the woman as he is interested in what she has to say, even though she is quite rude towards him. He keeps calm and looks upset when she walks away, which suggests he might have feelings for her. This scene represents him as a man who has made mistakes but feels bad about how things have turned out. Sav seems like a concerned member of the public as he goes to check she is okay, only to find the man in the toilets harassing her. We then find out Sav is actually a police officer and his badge represents the law and being a good person, so we start to think the gun and blood are all tied into his job. He seems genuinely concerned for the Waitress' well-being and this shows he is a nice person who is good at his job. Instead of rising to the mans threats and taunts he says "have a nice day sir" and this shows us he is smart and thinks about his actions. Although, this then makes us think about why he was so panicked in the opening scene. The relationship between Sav and Andy seems like a friendly one as they makes jokes and laugh with each other when they are in the cafe/diner. When he is at work in the locker rooms, he seems to have a good relationship with his co-workers as he tells them about his meeting with Cassie on the beach. They seem to know about his situation so that makes us think they are friends. In the locker scene Sav is represented as a caring, friendly person which makes us like him more. When dealing with the Victims and the dead baby he uses hushed voices to be considerate and doesn't know how to react because it's a terrible tragedy. He doesn't know how the baby died so he doesn't accuse anyone and tries to be rational in the situation whilst Andy, his partner, is a little bit more shocked. Sav talks to the brother of the dead baby and is represented as a helpful police officer who is just doing his job and making them feel more relaxed and less hysterical.